Elastomeric, chlorinated ethylene polymers are commercially attractive, as once cured to crosslinked products, they are characterized by a number of desirable properties, including (a) resistance to chemical solvents (b) resistance to ozone (c) resistance to abrasion (d) resistance to outdoor weathering and (e) by excellent use temperatures, i.e. flexibility over a temperature range of about -20.degree. C. to about 120.degree. C. Consequently, cured chlorinated ethylene polymers and compositions based thereon, characterized by the properties described above, find uses in many diverse applications including production of film material, as extrudates about wires and cables, as base polymers in flame retardant compositions and as plasticizers for polyvinylchloride polymers.
The preparation of chlorinated ethylene polymers has been carried out, in the past, by a solution process wherein the polymers have been reacted with a chlorinating agent, while in a solvent medium. The so-called solution process requires that the solvent be removed from the chlorinated polymers at the completion of the reaction, generally by heating the reacted system at temperatures sufficiently high to drive off the solvent. At the temperatures employed for solvent removal, however, the chlorinated polymers tend to agglomerate and become difficult to handle and process.